The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Big ones who got away
Peterborough United are rightly proud of the players they picked up on the cheap and then turned into star performers.
But they didn’t always get who they wanted and some went on to great things after turning Posh down as Alan Swann reveals.
1) Jamie Vardy. The Fleetwood striker was sat in Posh boss Darren Ferguson’s Ryhall restaurant when Leicester City came on the phone and blew our offer out of the water. I guess he made the right move as Premier League goals were followed by England caps.
2) Marcus Stewart. Posh boss Barry Fry showed me the contract he’d offered the Bristol Rovers forward. It was rejected and Stewart joined Huddersfield for £1.2 million Big money moves to Ipswich and Sunderland followed.
3) SamBaldock was the MK hotshot who decided he was too loyal to Dons to switch to the club’s big rivals. Went on to play for West Ham and now at Brighton.
4) Former Arsenal kid
Dan Crowley didn’t like the look of the Posh training ground so didn’t sign. Now at Birmingham City.
5) Exciting Irish winger James McClean was all set to sign for Posh when Sunderland suddenly came calling and that was that.
6) France B international Franck Queudreu had a short trial at Posh, but instead returned to his home country.
7) Michael Kightly was a team-mate of Aaron Mclean at Grays, but for some reason chose Wolves over Posh.
8) Posh took a shine to winger Joe Lolley when he helped Kidderminster to an FA Cup win at London Road.
Lolley preferred to go to Huddersfield.
9) Posh agreed a fee with Southend defender Simon Francis in 2010, but he failed to agree personal terms. Now a regular defender in the Premier League with Bournemouth.